Sad Night Dynamite: Live at YES

Sad Night Dynamite – Words & image by Lilly Tarmey

A brief and dramatic journey through the genres. Sad Night Dynamite, the ‘high school besties’ duo from Somerset brought a whole new wave of energy to the crowd of the ‘Pink Room’ at YES, Manchester.

Their sound was like nothing I’d heard before. Combining hip hop, Britpop, punk, electronica, dub and RnB and they make it work! Their mixtape, released in February 2021, is a self-proclaimed ‘nightmarish trip’ through all their influences, including Tarantino (the pair find themselves particularly inspired by film music also).

This gig was the first megaphone I’d seen used for vocals. I liked it. It brought a robotic quality to the melody, emphasising how much their music was influenced by ‘Gorillaz’. The use of rhythm, acoustic guitar with their bassy beats was also very creative, the track was trippy to listen to; it made for a very refreshing sound. Combined with the dramatic light displays, it created a dreamy atmosphere in the Pink Room.

They have an incredibly dynamic presence on stage; you can tell they are childhood friends. Telling anecdotes from their past and grinning whenever they caught each other’s eye. You could feel the authenticity of their music.

Sad Night Dynamite are definitely onto something new. I can see them a few years from now making music of an eclectic genre. I’ve never heard such a cocktail of sounds at one concert before. I was even getting whiffs of country at one point. Their sound is just so versatile, one second, they were sat by the piano, the next they were jumping into the crowd, it made for a chaotic yet electric experience.

I hope the band continue to experiment with their instrumentation and the structures of their songs, it’s what makes them unique.